The Story of the Rock
by GrandeVanillaSkimLatte
Summary: For years Hermione has hidden a rock beneath the bathroom sink. Now that her children have discovered her secret she is forced to reveal the story of the rock. Winner of the Twin Exchange November 2008 Challenge. ViktorHermione.


_**Authors Note**__**:**__ My entry for the Twin Exchange November Challenge. Please note also that some of the scenes in this are taken directly from GoF, I have taken the liberty of paraphrasing that which is borrowed and claim no ownership to anything in the Potterverse. Special thanks to Mistymist for beta reading this!_

_**Prompt:**__ A Rock_

_**Pairing:**__ Viktor/Hermione_

_**Theme:**__Anniversary of the first event of the Tri-Wizard Tournament

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**The Story of the Rock

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Hermione smiled as she heard the patter of bare feet coming down the hallway toward the front living room where she sat reading a novel. She loved the Christmas holidays more so than ever, now that she had her Rosie home to make her small family complete.

"Mum, I swear it wasn't me, Hugo stuck his foot out as I walked past him and …"

"That's not true!" her son exclaimed, entering the room after his older sister, his face flushed and his eyes bright with excitement.

"Is so! You were the one who broke it, don't lie! Mum, tell him not to lie," her eleven year old whined, giving her brother a jab in the ribs.

"I didn't lie; you were the one who dropped it!"

"Dropped what?" Hermione interjected, trying not to smile as her children both began to turn bright red in preparation for an afternoons worth of arguing.

"The rock," they said in unison.

"What rock?" she asked, confused.

"You know, the rock you keep under the bathroom sink that you think Daddy doesn't know about," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, and you broke it?" Hermione asked, trying not to blush now she knew her secret was out.

"Not me! Hugo did!" her daughter huffed, sitting down next to her.

"I did not!" her son growled, shoving his sister from her spot and settling down next to his mother.

"It doesn't matter if it's broken, I suppose it was about time I threw it out anyway," Hermione sighed, putting down her book and looking at her children who seemed surprised when she didn't start yelling.

"Why were you keeping a stupid old rock anyway?" Rose asked, sitting down crossed legged on the floor.

"Memories I suppose," Hermione sighed, "The rock reminds me of a very old friend,"

"Who? Uncle Harry?" Hugo asked.

Hermione laughed, "No it wasn't from Uncle Harry,"

"Then who?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, mum, tell us!" Hugo agreed, bouncing on the cushions.

Hermione smiled indulgently and flicked her wand toward one of the many bookcases that lined the room. A thick burgundy tome flew toward them. Rose reached up and snatched the book before it made it anywhere near her mother.

"_Champion, Hero, Seeker – The early years of Viktor Krum"_ she read aloud, making a face.

"Who the bloody hell is Viktor Kum?" Hugo asked.

"It's _Krum_ dear and don't swear, honestly the habits you two have picked up from your father," Hermione sighed, filching the book from Rose and flicking it open to a full page picture of her old sweetheart, showing her offspring.

"Ooh he's kind of good looking," her daughter admired, before blushing a little when she realised that she wasn't in her dorm room with the other girls but at home.

"He was," Hermione corrected, "I believe now his hairline has receded so much he has more hair under his nose and it looks like he has stuffed a pillow under his shirt. Not that it is his looks that are important right now – Viktor was my boyfriend when I was in my fourth year,"

"You mean you went out with someone other than Daddy?" Rose asked, frowning at the thought that her mother could have been interested in any one else.

"For a short time, yes. Viktor was …"

"An international Quidditch star at the age of sixteen with a career spanning twelve years and a total of seven hundred and fifty two snitches caught across his professional lifetime," Hugo announced, reading over her shoulder, now excited to know that there was something other than romance to this story, "But Mum, it says here he was Bulgarian – I didn't know you lived in Bulgaria, I thought you went to Hogwarts,"

"I did, and so did he for a time. Viktor was selected in his seventh year to compete in the tri-wizard tournament along side Uncle Harry and Aunt Fluer and another boy Cedric Diggory,"

"Oh I remember Daddy telling us about that, something about Uncle Harry fighting a Hungarian Horntail," Rose recalled, leaning forward now, excited to hear this story.

"Exactly, that's how I came by the rock. Viktor gave it to me as a gift right after that first event, something to remember the moment by,"

"A rock? That's a pretty lame gift Mum,"

"Lame or not, it has served its purpose. Every time I look at that rock I remember that day,"

"What happened?"

"Well …" Hermione began, thinking about how the day had started off.

It had been a cold morning, and the weather hadn't improved much as the afternoon wore on. She had taught Harry all she knew about summoning charms and had devoted most of her day to reading up on Dragons. Nothing she had come across gave her any clues when it came to keeping Harry alive. By the time the entire student body trudged their way down toward the arena she was just as pale and anxious as her best friend had been over lunch.

As everyone piled their way into the stands she spotted the colourful tents set against the forest and changed her course of travel. Ron, who was caught up making bets with Dean and Seamus, didn't even notice when she left his side. Glancing around she found that all the teachers were currently busy making sure that the crowds didn't try to sneak a peak at the first event.

Finding her opportunity, she darted toward the first tent and lifted the back flap with caution. Harry stood with his back to her, head bowed as if in prayer. The other champions stood or sat in similar tense poses around the tent as Bagman cheerful(ly) announced the minor details of the first task; ignoring the charged atmosphere around him as if the champions were about to play a rousing game of crochet.

Loosing her nerve she began to pull back when the last person she expected to pay attention to her caught her eye. Viktor's grim mouth curved into a lazy smirk. Hermione stood frozen, captured in his steely gaze; and then he had the audacity to do something nobody had ever done to her before. He winked.

She spun from the tent so fast she nearly fell flat on her face. Running, she slipped into the stand beside Ron and the rest of the Gryffindor's just as the whistle sounded and Cedric appeared looking as if he was about to pass out. She felt out of breath and dizzy and by the time she had recollected her scattered thoughts the handsome Hufflepuff had managed to evade his dragon and capture the golden egg.

She cheered along with everyone else, deciding that nothing more _could_ be done for Harry and nothing _would_ be done about Viktor – at least not until after this task was over. Cedric received his score and was helped over to the medi-tent to treat the nasty burn he had received to one side of his face.

Fluer was next, and although she took more time to retrieve her egg, she made it seem effortless, as if darting by a fire breathing dragon was meant to be a thing of grace and poise. The male student population cat called and whistled when she finally obtained her goal and the blonde turned with a winning smile and blew a kiss into the air. Hermione rolled her eyes in disgust as a collective sigh echoed around the enclosure.

When she finally exited the arena the crowed began to shift restlessly. Only two champions were left – The international Quidditch star and the Boy-Who-Lived. The tension was almost unbearable and Hermione didn't know whether to sigh in relief or groan with prolonged anxiety when Viktor Krum's name was announced.

The seeker entered the enclosure and surveyed the crowd, much like she had seen him do before the World Cup at the start of the year. Her breath once again hitched when his eyes lit across her and the tiniest hint of his smirk returned.

"Oh my goodness, did you just see Viktor Krum smile at me?" she heard Lavender squeal behind her.

"Yes! I told you he really did check you out in the hallway the other day!" Parvati giggled along side her.

"I cannot wait to owl my mum, she will _not_ believe this," Lavender continued before raising her voice and screaming, "GOOD LUCK VIKTOR!"

"I swear, that girl is mental," Ron muttered in her ear and Hermione had to suppress her laughter. She noticed there were a few students rolling their eyes at the blonde's declaration.

The dragon was released and everyone fell silent as the Bulgarian eyed off his opponent. Hermione held her breath in those moments where nobody moved and had trouble catching it back while the Durmstrang champion worked his way with great agility around the enclosure, deftly evading the random bursts of flame and using a combination of brute strength and impressive wand work to gain possession of the golden egg.

When it was over the crowd stood to cheer for the famous student; stomping their feet and screaming their adoration. Hermione forced herself not to smile when she heard Ron beside her mutter, "He wasn't that bloody good,"

The judges seemed to agree with the student population and he scored quite high compared to his predecessors, Karkaroff even going so far as to give his own student a 'ten'. When he finally exited the enclosure Hermione's anxiety returned ten fold. Everybody knew it was Harry's turn next.

The youngest competitor entered the arena looking sicker than anyone had ever seen him. To her left Hermione could hear Malfoy taking bets on how long it would take Potter to lose his lunch. Harry gripped his wand tightly in his right fist, his knuckles so white it could be seen all the way from the stands. The Hungarian Horntail was released and the crowd gasped as Harry raised his wand and shouted the words nobody had expected, "Accio Firebolt!"

Hermione hid her face behind her hands, her fingernails digging deep into her soft cheeks as she waited, like everyone else to see what happened next. After a few longs moments a few of the Slytherins let out barking laughs but were abruptly stopped when the summoned broomstick made its appearance.

Harry held out his hand and swung onto the broomstick as it flew by, causing most of the crowd to gasp and the Dragon to rear up at the unexpected intrusion. Throughout the whole task Hermione's heart pounded as she feared for her best friend's life. When Harry came just that little too close to a burst of flame she gripped Ron's arm in fear and didn't let go until he finally had hold of the egg.

Harry was led out of the enclosure and straight to the medi tent, leaving the crowd in disarray. Nobody had expected such a display, nobody had expected him to last a minute with the fire breathing beast and yet he had proved them all wrong.

She nearly leapt out of her skin when Ron stood abruptly, "I have to see if he's okay," the Weasley muttered, looking just as sick as Harry had earlier. She followed him down from the stands and into the medi tent.

The reunion between Ron and Harry was bitter sweet. Hermione burst into tears and when the duo looked at her she just shouted, "Boys!" before running off, trying to preserve some dignity. The afternoon had been such an emotional rollercoaster she didn't know which way was up or down, she just sat at the edge of the forest and sobbed out her stress and worries.

"Girls," a heavily accented voice teased from a near by tree.

Hermione's head snapped as she hastily wiped the tears from her face, "Well yes, I suppose this is a very female reaction, but it is one of many ways of dealing with a stressful day," she muttered, unable to look Viktor Krum in the eye.

He didn't respond and after a few moments she forced herself to look in his direction just to see if he really was still there. He was, leaning lazily against the tree, that now familiar smirk plastered on his face.

"Don't you have celebrating or something to do? I mean you just won the first task and I am sure your friends back on the ship can't wait to throw you a party. I can hardly imagine them just ignoring such a big event. Gryffindor wouldn't dream of missing such a perfect opportunity to throw a bash and stay up all night," she blabbered, becoming increasingly more uncomfortable by his silence.

He shrugged but didn't walk away. Getting to her feet she approached him slowly, looking him straight in the eye. She was beginning to suspect that someone was playing a big prank on her and the man before her was just an elaborate illusion. Reaching out a cautious had she poked him hard in the chest.

She didn't have time to react as his lightening fast seeker reflexes came into play and he caught her hand in his. Oh he was real alright, her brain screamed at her to pull away and run back to the safety of the crowds but her feet refused to cooperate.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered, her gaze searching his for the hidden answer.

"This," he replied heavily, leaning down toward her until their noses touched. She breathed in as he breathed out, her lids became heavy as his rich spicy scent washed over her. Unconsciously her tongue darted out to wet her dry lips and that seemed to be all the invitation he was waiting for.

His lips were surprisingly soft, and so smooth she had to swallow hard to keep from tracing them with her own. Her breath hitched as she remained perfectly still, letting him brush across her chapped lips over and over again, creating a perfect friction and causing tingles to spread from her head to her toes.

After a few more moments of innocent touching he pulled back and let go of her hand. She barely had time to blink when he turned his back on her and began walking toward the castle. Her next reaction was outrage – Viktor Krum had just stolen her first kiss!

"Why you arrogant, pig headed –" she began, picking up a rock at her feet and hurling it toward his head. The seeker spun around and caught the flying object easily, tossing it in the air a few times before gently thrusting it back in her direction and turning back the way he had been going.

Hermione caught the rock and held it to her chest, watching the international Quidditch star walk away.

"That's it? He just kissed you and walked off?" Rose screeched, having wedged herself into the small space between her brother and the arm of the chair sometime during the story.

"Well he did ask me to the Yule Ball later," Hermione explained, smiling at her daughters indignation, "Viktor just had a way of doing things with as few words as possible, and I suppose I kept the rock to remind me of that time in my life,"

"So did Uncle Harry get to fight any more Dragons after that?" Hugo asked, completely missing the point of the story.

"Not fight no, but we did ride a Dragon a few years later," Hermione said launching into the tale of when she, Harry and Ron had broken into Gringotts to retrieve the true sword of Gryffindor. Her avid audience was happy to listen well into the night.

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_Please Review!_


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